Onyx Gold Corp. July 24 announced the introduction of the company's executive team and exploration plans for its properties within the highly prospective and overlapping Tintina and Tombstone gold belts in Yukon's Selwyn Basin, and within Ontario's portion of the Abitibi greenstone belt, Canada's most prolific gold region.

Early this year, HighGold Mining Inc. spun out its (ON)tario (Y)ukon e(X)ploration properties into Onyx Gold and transferred all its outstanding shares under subsidiary company Epica Gold Inc. to the new Canadian-focused exploration company.

Now existing as its own entity, with HighGold maintaining a 20% share, Onyx can begin unlocking the potential of these Canadian gold properties.

Nestled between Snowline Gold's Rogue and Golden Oly properties to the north and south and Fireweed Metals' Macmillan Pass project to the northeast, Onyx Gold holds 100% interest in four separate properties in eastern Yukon, as well as three properties in the Timmins area in Ontario.

Totaling 1,075 claims in 21,000 hectares (51,892 acres), its Yukon properties comprise the King Tut, RGS, Canol, and Stan properties, with the most compelling of the company's Yukon properties being King Tut, in the heart of this emerging reduced intrusive-related gold district, while its Ontario holdings comprise 34,300 hectares (85,004 acres) and include the Muro-Croesus, Golden Mile, and Timmins South.

Past exploration work at King Tut has outlined multi-kilometer-long gold-in-soil anomalies with no prior drilling. Wasting no time, Onyx is preparing to begin the area's first-ever drill program at King Tut in the coming weeks.

"We are very excited to see Onyx Gold launched and to hit the ground running in the Yukon, in the heart of what we believe is one of the most exciting new gold districts in North America," said Onyx Gold Executive Chairman Darwin Green. "We have laid the foundation for Onyx Gold to be a leading explorer in the junior gold space with an enviable portfolio of high-quality gold properties in two of Canada's top gold jurisdictions led by a seasoned management team with demonstrated successes in all areas of the sector."

Plan of action

With a balance sheet of over C$8 million (US$6 million), Onyx Gold is well-funded to carry out its exploration plans. Already, near-continuous exploration activity is planned for the rest of 2023 and through 2024, with initial exploration work programs now underway.

Work programs in the Yukon are anticipated to carry through September and will be followed by work programs in Ontario that will extend from October into December.

Crews arrived at the company's Yukon properties in early July for preliminary camp setup and have commenced an initial program of geological mapping, prospecting, soil and rock sampling, and airborne drone-magnetic and lidar topographic surveying.

This initial work is designed to refine drill targets at King Tut in anticipation of drilling in the coming weeks.

The field programs are being managed by Onyx Gold technical staff with support from Archer Cathro & Associates Ltd. of Whitehorse, Yukon, and are being conducted under a Class 1 exploration permit issued by the Yukon Government Department of Energy, Mines and Resources, which includes up to 2,500 meters of drilling this year.

Additional updates with details on exploration plans and exploration progress are expected in the near future.

At Timmins, Onyx is planning to carry out a 4,000 to 5,000-meter fall-winter drill program at its Munro-Croesus property.

This program is designed to follow up on the new Argus Zone discovery, which displays bulk tonnage style mineralization with geological similarities to nearby multi-million-ounce deposits, as well as to test for ultra-high-grade gold mineralization at new targets surrounding the former Croesus mine.

Additional updates and details will be provided in the coming months.

The team

Onyx Gold has assembled a senior management and advisory team that brings a wealth of experience, drive, and a proven track record of success.

This team is led by Brock Colterjohn as president and CEO, who carries significant expertise in equity capital markets, mineral exploration, and production geology.

Holding a Master of Business Administration in Global Mining Management from the Schulich School of Business and a Bachelor of Science in Geology from Dalhousie University, Colterjohn has applied his knowledge as a mining research analyst at Cormark Securities, as a mining equity sales specialist at Canaccord Genuity, and with various mining companies throughout Canada and Mexico.

Onyx Gold's technical team is led by Ian Cunningham-Dunlop, who brings more than 35 years of industry experience to the position of executive vice president, and Conor McKinley, who brings 15 years of experience to the role of vice president of exploration. Both have extensive gold exploration history in the regions of Onyx Gold's projects.

Cunningham-Dunlop will divide his time between Onyx Gold and HighGold, where he serves as senior vice president of exploration, whereas McKinley will dedicate 100% of his expertise to Onyx.

Moving into relations and communications, Nicole Hoeller has been named vice president of corporate communications and joins Onyx after the successful sale of Sabina Gold & Silver Corp. to B2Gold Corp., where she held the position of vice president of communications and corporate secretary.

In addition to her 26-year career in investor relations and communications, Hoeller has spent extensive time traveling the Canadian North, liaising and consulting with communities, indigenous organizations, and all levels of government regarding mining's benefits and impacts.

Award-winning prospector and professional geologist John Robins, who has been involved in several major mineral discoveries, has joined Onyx as strategic advisor. A steward of the junior mining industry and the co-founder and principal of Discovery Group, his entrepreneurship has created over $2.6 billion in mergers and acquisitions activity and generated over $1 billion in direct and indirect mineral expenditures.

The Onyx advisory team is also complimented by Garfield McVeigh as technical advisor. McVeigh brings decades of Archean gold experience, having participated in several major discoveries, including the Hoyle Pond multi-million-ounce Gold Mine in Timmins, Ontario.

In addition to Executive Chairman Green, Onyx's board of directors includes Michael Cinnamond, CFO of B2Gold and former partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP; Gwen Preston, a leading writer, commentator, and analyst of the junior mining sector; and Maple Gold CFO Kiran Patankar, who brings over 15 years of investment banking, capital markets, and public company leadership experience.